Heretofore, when cartons such as cartons containing six drinks were loaded into cases, they are normally fed onto a case packer in two rows directly above a grid set. A drop assembly was utilized for shifting the four cases of drinks allowing them to drop through the grid set into a cardboard carton. Normally, the grid set consist of a rectangular frame having flexible guide members carried around the periphery thereof for extending into the case.
One problem with such devices was that the drinks were allowed to drop abruptly into the case often breaking some of the bottles or tearing the cartons allowing bottles to fall from the six-pack cartons.
Furthermore, a problem with such devices is that frequently the cardboard cases would not be fully extended and, as a result, when the flexible fingers were inserted into the case for guiding the cartons therein, sometimes the case was bent or the cartons not properly loaded therein as a result of the case not being fully extended.
In loading articles into cases, the articles are either dropped through grid sets into a case that is carried on an elevated platform or the entire grid set itself is lowered down into the case. Even though the elevator upon which the case is to be loaded is positioned directly below the grid set, often there is a drop of more than a foot producing a substantial impact when striking the bottom of the case. This impact sometimes damages the articles and cartons.